10 Things I miss from New Zealand

(Not including friends and family)

1. Wellington café’s and coffee – As with the U.S. it’s near impossible to find a good espresso coffee, like the flat whites I learnt to expect in Wellington. I can’t find a café that serves healthy tasty food, that’s not part of a chain either. Then there are the ‘greasy spoon’ cafes where you struggle to find anything not fried.
2. Good beef (and lamb) – I guess I knew to expect that. Maybe it’s that there’s not as many hills for the livestock to graze on and produce that tasty lean meat I’m used to.
3. Having a car – Not that I want one here as they’re damn expensive to run, but I just miss the feeling.
4. My stereo – It’s simple: music sounds better loud through a good stereo and I like music (I’ve got tickets for Tool, Live, Def Leppard, Collective Soul and The Cult concerts)
5. Wide open spaces, clean air etc. – It’s not that these things don’t exist in the UK, it’s just that in my everyday life I don’t come across them very often.
6. Smoke free bars and restaurants – I can’t believe the amount of people that smoke here. After getting used to NZ’s smoke-free laws, it’s been a shock to have to go back to this again.
7. Shopping trolleys with 2 fixed wheels at the back. – Here all four wheels swivel making it a nightmare to control them. I can’t understand it!
8. Wearing casual clothes to work – I got my first suit the other day thinking I’m going to feel much smarter and more important than before. It turns out that I’m not and miss the days at Windsor where jeans and a t-shirt were the dress code.
9. Talking to someone in the same country when ringing the bank – When ringing HSBC here I always get some Indian on a bad line I can’t understand or hear. It’s so frustrating!
10. Kiwi Marmite – the stuff here is far milder than our near black extract-of-yeast feast. I need the strong sharp stuff!!